Why I chose Greece as my first travel destination since the pandemic

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Last month in June (2021), my husband and I decided it was time we gave traveling a try again since the pandemic started. We did some research and had Puerto Rico in mind because a lot of friends went and shared their experiences with us. And just as we were about to book our trip, I reconnected with my college friend who’s Greek and currently lives in Athens with her family. She spoke about the situation in the country and how everything started opening up — and she invited my husband and me over! I also spoke to a few travel bloggers who already started making their way over to Greece.

After some research, we decided: “We’ve always wanted to go to Santorini, so let’s go!” That day, we booked our flight to leave the same weekend.

Entry allowed to those fully vaccinated

The view of the volcanic island right before we landed in Santorini.

Unlike some countries, Greece does not require visitors to quarantine upon arrival — in fact, if you are fully vaccinated, you will not be asked to show a negative COVID test when you board the flight.

Both my husband and I are fully vaccinated but we did still get a PCR test 3 days prior to traveling just because we wanted to have the negative tests on hand as a backup. It was our first time traveling during the pandemic so we weren’t sure what to expect.

On the way back to the U.S., a negative test was, however, required. Rapid tests were available at the airport in Athens, so we got ours done there when we flew back to Athens from Santorini; it was a day before we returned to New York.

Reasonable prices

Accommodation in Athens is not expensive — we found really nice Airbnbs for less than $100 per night in Plaka, a neighborhood that is within walking distance to the Acropolis and the main shopping area. Food, in general, is also very affordable. Even nice restaurants that were highly rated have friendly prices.

Although everything is more expensive in Santorini, our second destination in Greece, the prices were still lower than usual. In Santorini, we stayed at a 5-star resort called Santo Maris, in Oia; it was around $500 — $600 per night. We were able to use points for parts of it so the total sum stayed within our budget.

Amazing (and healthy) food!

The Mediterranean diet has long been one of our favorites so we knew we would love the local cuisine. When we were there, we loved everything we had — I particularly loved the way they prepare fish. I’ve never loved eating sea bass as much as I did in Greece!

In Santorini, we actually went back to the same restaurant — Melitini — because we loved the food so much! If you book ahead and get a table on the upper level, you actually get to enjoy a stunning sunset view as well.

Super friendly people

In all honesty, one of our concerns was whether we would experience anti-Asian racism. Based on our past experience when we visited Greece before, we didn’t think there would be but I reached out to a Taiwanese American travel blogger who was in the country anyway and asked her about her experience. “Everyone has been so nice here,” she told me. My college friend assured me there’s nothing to worry about, too.

And truly, every single person who met and came across in both Athens and Santorini was so friendly and helpful. We actually felt like they were happy to see us!

In Santorini, we chatted with a store owner who shared a lot of local stories about the island; in Athens, a taxi driver gave us so many great local recommendations. We also chatted to fellow travelers from France and Italy who were all genuinely happy to be able to travel and explore new places again.

I think the people really made all the difference.

If you’re thinking of traveling to Greece and have questions about my trip, feel free to leave a comment below or send me a DM via Instagram.

Thank you for stopping by Happily Ever Style.

Love,

Tricia

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